Ranger's Bargain
by cutsycat
Summary: On Hiatus - Ranger kidnaps Steph. Shortly there after, Steph recieves an anonymous note asking to meet her at the Merry Go Round. Who is it? What will happen next?
1. Chapter 1

**Author: **Cutsycat  
**Title: **Ranger's Bargain

**Ranger's Bargain**

_I've done it now. I can't believe Ranger actually sent me to a third world country. I mean I'm not even sure what I did._ Thinking back Steph remembers the conversation she had with Ranger before she woke up and found herself here, wherever here was...

* * *

"Yo."

"Yo, yourself."

Silence. Not able to stand it anymore Steph asks, "Is there something you wanted?"

"Yeah, Babe."

"What?"

"You. Only you."

"Not gonna happen. You had your chance. You blew it." Wait what am I thinking? Turning Ranger down? He is so going to kill me.

"Babe, I made a mistake. I'm sorry. Forgive me."

_He's sorry. Crap, now what?_ "Why?"

"What?"

"Why should I forgive you? You hurt me and you didn't have to."

"Because I love you."

_He what? How? Why?_ Steph thought before she saw black.

* * *

I don't understand. Surely, he didn't send me here just because I was mad at him. I know he said he would get me back for the Apusenja thing, but this seems a little extreme for that. Well I'm not going to solve this without talking to him.

Exploring where she is Steph sees that she is in what looks like a suite in a hotel. Except that it seems a lot more primitive, which is why she thinks she is in a third world country. There are no windows, so she can't see outside. Deciding to chance it Steph starts walking towards the door. Just as she takes her first step the doorbell rings. Answering it, she sees a Cuban man she doesn't know.

"Ahhh. You're awake."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Bargainer."

"Bargainer? What Bargainer?"

"The Bargainer. I'm you're only way out of this place."

"Where am I? What do I have to do to leave?"

"You're in a hotel in New York."

"How did I get here?" she interrupts.

"You have to offer me something in exchange for your freedom. I'll let you know when you offer me something good enough for me to let you leave." he continues on as if she hadn't spoken.

"I repeat. How did I get here?"

"Someone dropped you off."

"Someone, who?"

"Ranger."

"What?" Steph screeched. "This is so not funny."

"What's not funny?"

"I was only kidding when I thought Ranger had sent me to a third world country. He is so dead."

Pulling out her cellphone she presses speed dial 1.

"Yo."

"Get me out of here, now."

"No."

"No? What do you mean no? Get me out, now."

"I'll get you out and in exchange you spend a couple hours listening to me and working this out. I really love you baby and want this relationship to work. Do you agree to my terms?"

"If I have to." Steph pouts.

"Yes. You do, if you want out."

"Fine. I agree."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 2**

Click. _Why does he always hang up on me?_ "Ok. Let's go."

"Where?"

"Wherever Ranger is."

"I'm not authorized to take you there."

"Well then call Ranger and get authorized." Steph pauses. When he doesn't appear to do anything she yells, "Now."

He jumps and starts fumbling for his phone. Steph hears, "Boss...Yeah...Okay." That's it. End of conversation.

"Is that part of the Rangeman training?"

"What?"

"The speaking in one word sentences thing."

"No. Military."

"Oh. Of. Course. " She rolls her eyes as only a burg woman can before grabbing her purse and walking towards the door. When he doesn't follow immediately, she pauses and asks, "Coming?"

He sighs and mutters, "Women."

The bargainer held the door open for Stephanie as she got in. While the bargainer went around, Steph settled in and got comfortable. Shortly after he started driving Steph drifts off. She didn't wake up until they were almost directly in front of Ranger's house.

"We're here."

Eager for her first look at the batcave she looks out the window. "Wow." Steph breathes. In front of her she sees a dark green three-story house. She steps out of the car and slowly turns around taking note of the carefully landscaped gardens before walking up to the very ornate looking door. It has one of those old-fashioned doorknockers. This one is made out of pewter and has the shape of a dragon's head. Steph slowly trails her finger along the intricate designs before picking up the knocker and knocking on the door. After just one knock the door opens, almost as if Ranger had just been standing there waiting for her to arrive.

"Babe."

_Ok. I have to concentrate. I'm mad at him. No matter how gorgeous or sexy he looks or how much I love his house, I still have to remember that I'm mad at him. Yeah, that's it. I'm mad at him. Oh crap. I've been silent too long. He's just staring at me. Steph say something, anything. _"That's a really awesome doorknocker. Where did you get it? I really love your door, too. What's it made out of?"_ Oh, great. Now I sound like an inane bimbo._

"Babe, you're not an inane bimbo."

Stupid ESP. "Aren't you going to answer my questions? Or are you just going to pull your evasion bullshit, again?"

"Babe, when have I ever evaded your questions?"

"Well, let's see. Do you want that alphabetically or chronologically? I mean the mysterious stuff was fun for a while, but it's gotten old, now."

"Have I really evaded your questions that many times? I don't remember that."

"And he wonders why I'm mad at him?" Steph mutters.

"Well, if you really feel that way about it, I'll tell you the door is made out of teak and I bought the doorknocker in either China or Japan." Ranger sees Steph getting ready to explode and quickly adds, "Why don't we move this conversation inside, so that the neighbors and animals don't have to hear us."

"Fine." Steph clips out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 3**

Ranger opens the door wider and steps aside to let her through. She doesn't even glance at the inside of the house before turning around and getting ready to give him an earful.

"Do you even understand what I'm upset about, Ranger?"

"Sure, I do, Babe. You're mad because I left for 3 months without letting you know."

"Errrrnt. Wrong answer. Try again."

"Because, I sent you back to Morelli after our one night?"

"Nope. Still wrong."

"Then tell me why you're mad."

"Ok. You were partially right, you know. Both those incidents upset me, but what really hurt me was seeing the way you interacted with Jeanne Ellen and even Amy at the Rangeman Christmas bash. I mean you keep telling me that 'Your life doesn't lend itself to relationships', but clearly you've had relationships in the past with these women and even now you have more than a working relationship with both of them. I mean do you really expect me to be happy about the fact that you have time for relationships with other women, but not with me?"

"No, I guess I can't expect you to be happy about that, but Steph you're missing part of the picture. It's true my life doesn't lend itself to relationships, but that doesn't mean relationships aren't possible. I knew when I said that that you thought I meant I didn't want to have a relationship with you, but that's not the truth. It's you I want a relationship with and no one else."

"If that's true then why were you acting that way around Jeanne Ellen and Amy at the Christmas Bash? Why weren't you trying to spend time with me then?"

"I would have been, but whenever I tried to get close to you there was always somebody else there. I couldn't even get close to you."

"Ha. You couldn't get close to me? I think you just weren't trying hard enough. We both know that you can move without being seen or heard, so getting close to me at a party shouldn't be too difficult."

"Fine. You want the truth. The truth is I was scared. I was scared that if I let you know how much I cared you would end up ripping my heart out."

"I would rip your heart out? How could I do that after you already ripped mine out?"

"When did I rip yours out? I never knew I had the power."

"Well then either you're blind or I'm better at hiding my feelings than I thought I was. You started ripping my heart out after you sent me back to Morelli. When I saw you with Jeanne Ellen and Amy that just completed the process."

"I'm sorry, Babe. I never meant to hurt you."

"Yeah, well sometimes, I'm sorry isn't enough."

"I know. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"I don't know. Right now I have to work some things out for myself. Try talking to me in a week."

"A week? I don't know if I can go that long without seeing or talking to you."

"Well, you'll just have to tough it out. We'll probably still see eachother at work, but right now I want to limit our interactions to only work. Nothing personal. I need to sort out my feelings and see if there's anyway for me to overcome all the hurt you've done to me."

"Ok, but you have to understand that I do love you and that I'm going to do my best to show you that even if I'm not allowed to see or talk to you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Just a short one to get me back into the swing of things.**

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 4**

"Ok." Steph says as she leaves out his front door again.

Fortunately the Bargainer is still there, so she hops in the car again and asks the Bargainer to take her to her house.

"That sure was a short stop, Lady. Did you really listen to what the boss had to say? From my understanding of the situation, what he had to say, should have made you the happiest lady in the world."

"Yes, I listened to what he had to say and it would have made me the happiest lady in the world, if he hadn't already torn out my heart a while ago."

"The boss hurt your heart and you're still speaking to him? Wow. Usually when he hurts someone it's on purpose and he does it to drive them away."

"Have you had to comfort many of the ladies that the boss hurt?"

"No, not really. Most of the time the ladies just stop coming around after the boss has had words with them, if you know what I mean."

"You mean the ladies usually visit him at work and when he gets tired of them he tells them to stop coming around and you never see them again?"

"Yeah, something like that, but then I've never seen the boss behave the way he does around you either."

"Well that's something at least. That's my apartment building right there. Thanks for the ride."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: A little longer one.**

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 5**

Steph rushes up the stairs, in a hurry to get back to her apartment. Her first stop in her apartment is to grab the phone, before flopping onto her bed in her thinking position. Dialing the number from memory, she waits for the phone to be picked up. "Mary Lou?"

"Uh no. It's Lenny, but let me get her for you. Just a minute."

"Hi Steph." Mary Lou says after a short pause, in which Steph hears Lenny yelling, "Steph's on the phone for you, Mary Lou."

"I think I'm in trouble."

"What now? Do you have another crazy after you?"

"Of course not. Would I be calling you if I did? I'd be calling Ranger and speaking of Ranger, he's my problem."

"You remember what I told you about him last time we talked? How he said his life doesn't lend itself to relationships and then I saw him with Jeanne Ellen and Amy at the Rangeman Christmas Bash?"

"Yeah, Steph I remember. What's happened now?"

"He kidnapped me."

"What? You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. I'm dead serious. Then when I found out it was him, I called him and he said that the only way he would let me go is if I came and talked to him and let him explain what was going on."

"Really? What did he say?"

"Well, after I finished yelling at him."

"You yelled at him?"

"Yeah. I was hurt and upset."

"Ok. Then, what did he say?"

"He gave me some bullshit excuse about not being able to get close to me at the Rangeman Christmas Bash."

"Oh my god. Then what did you do?"

"What any good burg girl would do. I called him on it."

"And what did he say when you did that."

"That's when things started getting strange. He started telling me the truth."

"The truth? Oh my god. I don't know if I can handle the truth. Come on tell me, what was the truth."

"Well, he said the truth was that he was scared that if he admitted his feelings that I wouldn't return them and that I would rip my heart out."

"What did you say then?"

"I asked him how I could rip his heart out after he had already ripped mine out."

"Oh my god. You didn't?"

"Yes, I did. Then he started asking how he could make it up to me."

"He did? What did you say?"

"I said that I didn't know and that I would have to think on it and I'd get back to him in a week."

"You told him to wait a week, before he could talk to you? Bet that went over well. Come on what did he say to that?"

"He told me he wasn't sure he could last that long without seeing or talking to me. Then I told him to tough it out."

"You didn't? What could have possessed you to say that to Ranger of all people?"

"I don't know, but he seemed to take it ok. He did say that he was going to do his best to show me he loved me even if he couldn't see or talk to me."

"He did? Oh my god. I wonder what that means."

"Come on, Mary Lou, focus. I need your help here. What am I supposed to do now?"

"What are you supposed to do? Well as I can see it you really only have two choices.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: A short one before I call it a night.**

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 6**

"But, first I want you to answer one question for me."

"Fine. What's the question, Mary Lou?"

"It's just a simple question. Do you love him?"

"Of course I do. What kind of question is that?"

"Then that means that you've already forgiven him, haven't you?"

"Forgiven him? Yeah, I guess I have. When did you get so smart, Mary Lou?"

"I don't know that I've really gotten smarter. I think it's more that I've already gone through this."

"Well, if that's the case tell me what I should do, already."

"Well, as I said before you have two choices. For you they will be very similar choices, since you've already forgiven him."

"Well? What are they?"

"Choice number 1 is simple. You wait."

"Wait? What the hell kind of choice is that?"

"A good one." Pause." Look, he said he was going to show you he loved you, so let him do so."

"Fine. I can do that. What's my second choice?"

"Your second choice would be to quit dithering around and go get him. Show him how you feel. Claim him as he as claimed you."

"Claim him as he has claimed you? What have you been watching? Ricki Lake?"

"No. If you must know, I've been listening to one of those Dr. Love radio talk shows."

"Huh. So which choice would you choose, Mary Lou?"

"That's easy. I'd wait. I'm curious what he has planned for you."

"Hmm. Wait and let him think he's won or take him now..." Steph's musings are interrupted by a knock, knock, knock on the door. " I have to go, Mary Lou. Someone's at the door."

"Ok. Call me. After you decide."

"Bye. Mary Lou."

Looking through the peephole, Steph sees a man in black, holding a vase with half a dozen red roses in it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 7**

Opening the door, Steph steps back to let the man in. Walking through the door, he asks, "Stephanie Plum?"

"Yep. Are those for me?"

"Well, I assume so, they were sitting outside your door."

"You mean you didn't bring them?"

"Nope. I am, however, under orders to give you this." He says as he pulls a long thin box out of his jacket.

"Oh, who's this from?" Steph asks as she starts to lift the lid off the box.

"Ranger."

"Oh, how pretty." Steph exclaims as she pulls out a 14kt yellow gold .76ct oval pink tourmaline with .28ctw round and baguette diamond chevron necklace. (for picture click here)

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?" Short pause. "Oh, tell Ranger thanks."

"That's not what I meant. Who are the flowers from?"

"Oh, I guess I should check that out. Let's see... It says here...They reminded me of you. Meet me at the Merry Go Round at 10 tonight for another surprise. A surprise? Are you sure that Ranger didn't send these?" Steph's eyebrows slowly start to climb up her forehead.

"Pretty sure. Want me to check for you?"

"Would you?"

"No problem." He says pulling out his cellphone.

"Boss. Did you send Ms. Plum flowers?" Pause. " She got half a dozen red roses from someone who wants to meet her at the Merry Go Round at 10." Pause. "No problem." Click.

"He didn't send them. He wants me to bring the card back to the office, so that it can be scanned for fingerprints."

"What? Why? Does he think I'm in danger again?"

"Yep. He remembers what happened last time at the Merry Go Round."

"Damn. I didn't want to be reminded about that. I still have nightmares occasionally. Do you really think that it's someone dangerous?"

"I don't know, but you can never be too careful. Ranger also wanted me to ask who you would like to accompany you to this meeting. He's willing to let you pick your bodyguard this time. Maybe they'll last longer if you pick them."

"That's not funny. I'll talk to him about the bodyguard. Here. Take the card." Steph shoves the card at him.

"Not so fast." He says as he pulls out gloves and a plastic Ziploc bag. He carefully grabs the card using the gloves and then slips it into the Ziploc bag. "Don't forget to talk to the boss before you leave for the meeting. It would cause a lot more problems if he had to send someone to shadow you." He says muttering the last part as he heads out the door.

Stephanie shuts the door behind him and slowly slides down it, sighing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 8**

Pulling out her cellphone, Steph dials Ranger's number.

"Yo."

"I don't need a bodyguard. I'm sure it's just somebody playing a joke on me. I have friends, you know."

"I know, Steph, but what if this person isn't your friend?"

"But what if it is, Ranger? It would be all over the burg within minutes that I brought a bodyguard to meet a friend. What would my mom say?"

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, but you need a bodyguard. There's a good chance that this person isn't a friend of yours. Now either you can choose the bodyguard or I will. Your choice."

"That's no choice, Ranger."

"So you want me to choose for you, Babe?"

"What? No, I'll choose."

Pause.

Greater pause.

"Your choice, Steph?"

"Hal. I'll take Hal."

"I don't think so, Babe. Not after what you did to him the last time you met him. Pick somebody else."

"Fine. How about Amy? At least that way it won't be as obvious that I have a bodyguard."

"She'll be there at 9:30pm." Click.

"Ugh. Not again. Stupid phone manners."

**Elsewhere **

"Talk."

"New Assignment. Steph's 9:30pm tonight."

"What? No Boss. I'm not shadowing Steph because you screwed up again."

"I'm not asking you to. She's expecting you. You're to be her bodyguard to the Merry Go Round. Someone wants to meet her there at 10 tonight. I expect you to protect her with your life if needed."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting combat pay for this, right?"

"Of course."

**Back to Steph **

_Ok. I have about 3 hours to kill until I get my surprise. Crap. I only have 3 hours. Help! What am I supposed to wear? I'm sure it's just one of my friends playing a trick on me. What do I have that I would wear on a date? I'm thinking something dressy, but not too dressy and not slutty either. Mabye dressy casual. Yes, that would work. Now what do I have that is dressy casual?_ Leafing through her closet, Steph finally pulls out a dress she bought recently and hasn't had a chance to wear, yet. It was a pink floral print smocked sundress.

Nowwhat time is it? Crap I only have an hour and a half left to shower and tame my hair and put on makeup and clothes. I have to hurry. Steph grabs the dress and some underwear and heads into the bathroom to take a shower. She showers in a record 35 minutes. Well it was a record for her anyway. Then she proceeds to try and tame her hair for the next half hour. Finally, getting it to look semi-decent she finishes by putting on her makeup.

At exactly 9:30pm Amy knocks on Steph's door. Steph quickly puts on the finishing touches before looking through the peephole and then inviting Amy in. "I just have to grab my jacket and purse and I'll be ready to go." Steph tells Amy.

"Do you have your gun?"

"No, why would I need it?"

"Get it and make sure it has bullets in it."

"Why? I'm sure it's just one of my friends who wants to surprise me."

"Steph, it's always better to be safe than sorry. That's a lesson you should learn now, preferrably before you or someone else ends up getting hurt."

"Fine. Fine. I'll go get my gun and put bullets in it."


	9. Chapter 9

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 9**

As Steph goes to get out of her car, Amy says quickly getting out of the car, "Stop. Let me check it out, first. I'll give you the go ahead sign if it's safe."

_Grrr. She didn't even give me time to argue._ Looking around from her vantage point in the car she sees Joe Morelli standing by a tree near the Merry Go Round._ I wonder why Joe is here._

Amy signals Steph that it's ok to get out. Steph gets out and walks over to Joe with Amy following along behind. "Hey Joe, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were meeting somebody here and wanted to see for myself who it was."

"Well, Joe I think you scared them away, cause I don't see anybody near the Merry Go Round except for you."

"I found this on the Merry Go Round when I got here, Cupcake. I think it's for you." Joe hands Steph an envelope with her name on it.

Steph opens the envelope and pulls out the note. Reading aloud Steph says, "I was hoping to meet you, alone, but saw the cop and didn't want to start rumors. Call me. Here's my number."

"He gave you his number, Steph?"

"Yeah."

"So who is it?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll have to call him to figure it out."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Steph."

"Why? What could possibly happen? We're just going to be talking over the phone."

"Joe's right, Steph. Why don't you give us the phone number and let us figure out who it is and then you can call him, ok?"

"Fine, but you have to promise to call and let me know who it is as soon as you find out, ok?"

"Ok."

"Let's head back to your apartment, Steph, and then I can get the phone number and take it back to headquarters."

"Let's go, then."

**Back at Steph's Apartment **

"Amy, can you answer one question for me?"

"What's the big deal about me calling him? I mean he clearly already knows where I live. What more could he learn from a phone call?"

"It's not really about what he can learn. It's more about who has control in the conversation. For instance, if you know who he is you don't have to constantly wonder whom you're talking with. In fact, you could call him by name and maybe even get him off balance a little bit. This gives you the edge making it easier for you to find out the information you want, like why he wants to meet with you."

"Oh, ok. Here, let me write down the number for you." Steph quickly scribbles the number on a piece of paper, handing it to Amy, "Here you go. Hurry and run it through. I want to know who this person is."

**At the Rangeman offices **

"Amy, come check this out. You're not going to believe whose phone number it is." Bobby tells her.

"What? Whose phone number is it?"

"Look."

Amy looks at the screen and sees the name associated with the phone number. "Oh my god."

"Yea, surprising isn't it?"

"It sure is. So who gets to tell Ranger this new development? It's not going to be me. I promised Steph I'd let her know who it was right away."

"I think Hal should be the one to do it. He's already in trouble for the Stun Gun Incident."

"Sounds good to me, but I'd better get going and let Steph know the news."


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Sorry, it took so long to get up, but school and RL interfered with my time to write. Since, it's taken so long I made the chapter extra long, however it didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it to, so it may be rewritten at a later date.**_

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 10**

**Steph's Apartment**

After Amy leaves, Steph heads to her room and flops on the bed in her thinking position. With her arms spread-eagle on the bed, she starts to ponder who the mystery person is. Before she even rules out Ranger, she falls fast asleep.

Steph is sitting on her couch when she hears the locks on her door click open. _Ranger? No, it can't be Ranger. It doesn't feel right. Who is it?_ Steph gets up and starts to walk over to the door. The door starts to creak open.

Knock. Knock. Knock. _What? Who's knocking? Surely, not the person opening the door?_

Knock. Knock. Knock. _There it goes again. Really, who is knocking?_

"Wait a minute that's not from the dream." Steph realizes, slowly shaking herself awake.

Looking around she notices that she's in her bed with her covers all around her. _The covers weren't on me when I fell asleep. Who visited me in the night?_

Knock. Knock. Knock. _Oh, right. The door. That's what woke me up._ Looking at her clock and muttering about early hours, she drags herself out of bed and heads to the door. Looking through the peephole she sees Amy on the other side of the door.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Steph asks as she opens the door.

"Of course, I do. It's 6:30am."

"What reason could you possibly have to wake me up this early?"

"You wanted me to tell you about the phone number as soon as I found out."

"Still, couldn't you have let yourself in and waited until I woke up, rather than actually waking me up?"

"That wouldn't have been as much fun."

Steph sighs, "Fine, tell me about it, so that I can go back to bed."

"Well, Bobby ran the number through are computers and some other computers and we finally figured out who the phone number belongs to." Amy pauses.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Whose is it?"

"Somebody safe."

"You woke me up just to tell me that the phone number belonged to somebody safe?"

"Yep."

"You... You... Oh, I don't know what you are!" Steph exclaims angrily.

"Can't you at least tell me the name?"

"Nope. It's not my place to reveal that information."

"Well, then whose place is it? Ranger's?"

"No, sorry. It's not his place either. He'd get reamed a new one if he told you that information. You'll just have to call the number and find out that information yourself."

"What?" Steph screeched.

Amy starts to speak, but Steph interrupts before she can say anything, "Oh, just go away, Amy."

"Ok, but make sure you let Ranger know if you end up leaving. I don't want to chase your sorry ass across this world."

"I'll think about it." Steph says petulantly.

"Now go." Steph commands, pointing at the door. "And make sure you lock it on your way out."

Steph turns around and heads back to her bedroom saying on her way, "I'm going back to bed."

Shortly after Stephanie climbs into bed, she hears the door shut. _Thank god, she left. Now, I can sleep again._

**Meanwhile at the Rangeman offices **

Surrounded by monitors, Bobby watches Amy leave. Following her progress until she reaches her car, Bobby slowly stretches before standing up. Quickly scanning the room to make sure there is nothing out of place, he briefly rests his eyes on each of the twenty monitors scattered in a semi-circle at the front of the room. Seeing nothing out of ordinary on the monitors, he turns to exit through the clear glass door. Sweeping the rest of the room with his eyes, he notices an envelope addressed to Ranger sitting on top of the file cabinets in the back of the room. Snatching up the envelope, Bobby whisks off in search of Hal.

After searching floors 2, 3, and 4 containing offices, conference rooms, and apartments respectively, Bobby finally finds Hal at the weights in the gym on the 5th floor of the Rangeman building. "Hal. Got a job for you."

"What is it?"

"We found out who the phone number belongs to. Need you to show the boss. It's on the computer."

"Ok. "

"Also, deliver this to the boss."

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Now, go. I don't want to see you again until you have completed those tasks, soldier." Bobby pauses, waiting for Hal to leave. When he doesn't move, Bobby yells, "Go!"

"Sir, yes sir." Hal replies as he sprints out the gym door.

Watching Hal run, Bobby smiles an evil grin and says, "This is going to be good."

"What's going to be good, sir?"

Bobby starts. Turning around, he berates, "Don't do that, Cal."

As Bobby starts to walk away, Cal asks, "Sir?"

"What, Cal?"

"What's going to be good?"

"Come and find out." Bobby responds, as he walks to the door of the gym.

"Does it have something to do with Hal's assignment?"

Bobby smiles enigmatically and saying nothing, steps into the elevator and presses floor 2. _I wonder what's going on._ Cal quickly follows Bobby into the elevator.

They both step out of the elevator and walk into the control room. Seeing that no one is currently in the control room, Bobby walks over to the file cabinets and pulls out one of the digital cameras that are used for assignments. He then indicates to Cal that they should find good hiding spots. After all, they wouldn't want to miss out on the action.

After leaving the gym, Hal goes up to the seventh floor apartment and knocks on the door. Ranger opens the door before he even gets to the second knock. "What?"

"Bobby wanted me to give this to you." Hal says as he hands Ranger the envelope. "I'm also supposed to take you down to the computer and show you whose phone number Stephanie received."

Ranger sets the envelope on his coffee table. "I'll deal with this later. Let's go find out who wishes to talk to Stephanie."

Hal leads the way to the elevator and they both get in. It takes them down to the second floor where Bobby and Cal are hiding. As they step out of the elevator, Ranger scans the room to see if anything is out of place. Not noticing anything, Ranger invites Hal to lead the way to the computer. They both look at the monitor and see the name John McKayle along with the listing for his personal cell phone number. "You've got to be kidding me." Ranger mumbles, raising his eyebrow and yelling, "Alright, Bobby, where are you? Is this your idea of a joke?"

"Bobby, boss. What makes you think this is a joke?"

"Simple. I know John and ... Bobby."

"I see." Hal says slowly shaking his head with a bemused expression on his face.

"Now, Bobby get your butt out here now."

Carefully, handing off the camera to Cal, Bobby climbs out of his hiding spot. "Boss?"

"Did you do this?"

"If you mean did I find the person who gave Stephanie the phone number, then yes I did."

"And is this the person?"

"Yes."

"You're lying. He would have told me before doing something like this." Ranger exclaims as a look of complete shock covers his face.

Cal quickly stands up from his hiding spot and takes a picture. "Apparently, you don't know John as well as you thought you did, boss."

"Umm. Excuse me, but could someone please explain who John is and what's going on?"

"Bobby." Ranger growls loudly.

"Right, boss. Well, Hal, John is the Director of the FBI and he allegedly gave Steph his personal cell phone number and asked her to call him."

"There's no allegedly about this Brown. Not if you're telling the truth about his phone number being the one Steph received."

"Oh, it's his alright."

"Has anyone told Stephanie?"

"Amy left around 6:15 this morning to go tell her."

"6:15? I hope she's prepared for a grouchy Steph." Ranger mutters.

"Don't worry, I was."

"Back already, Amy?"

"Steph kicked me out and went back to sleep. I don't think we'll be finding out anything more on this until after she wakes up again."

"Is that so? Well, in that case, everyone BACK TO WORK." Ranger starts out softly, but shouts the last part. "You're assignments have already been posted. If you have any questions come see me. I'll be in my office."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: This is just a short one to let you know I haven't forgotten about this story. I hope to be able to write more shortly, but with Finals coming up, I don't know if I'll be able to or not._

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 11**

Leaning back in his black leather chair, Ranger looks around at his office while planning his conversation with John. In his office he has a mahogany desk with a bunch of papers stacked up neatly along the sides. In one corner of his desk he has a picture of Stephanie taken after a distraction. She's wearing a barely there dark blue dress that accentuates her curves. In the other corner he has a picture of Tank, Bobby, Lester, and him from when they were in the Rangers together. _My Babe would love that picture. I'm not in black or army camouflage._ At the opposite end of the room from Ranger is a large oval table that is sometimes used for conferences. A couple of landscape paintings hang along the wall to help put people at ease. In Ric's experience, it's easier to get information from people when they feel comfortable.

Dialing the number given to Stephanie, he waits for the phone to be picked up on the other end, "Talk."

"John."

"Ric? How did you get this number?" John asks leaning back in his chair with a puzzled frown pulling at his mouth. Putting his feet on the oak desk in front of him, he looks out the window at the Florida Beach, while he awaits Ric's answer.

"You gave it to my girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend? Who?" John questions. _I can't believe he has a girlfriend. He's always been so private, afraid to let anyone in, really._

"Stephanie Plum."

"You know Stephanie? I thought she was dating the cop. When did she become your girlfriend?"

"Well, she's not yet, but I'm working on it, and she trusts me with her safety."

"Wait she knows you want to date her and isn't your girlfriend?" John asks in disbelief.

"Yes."

"How'd you manage that one?"

"You don't need to know."

"Must have been something good to get her that mad at you."

"I made a mistake. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Wait she's witnessed you making a mistake? Then I definitely want her on my team."

"Is that why you've been trying to contact her? You want her on your team?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you call me and ask or warn me that you were planning on doing this?"

"I didn't know you knew Stephanie."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"You looked into her and didn't know I was associated with her?" Ric asks incredulously.

"No." John responds starting to sound worried.

"I think you need to fire anybody who looked into Stephanie and didn't realize I was associated with her."

"Why?"

"Everybody knows I'm associated with her. Why else would Stolle have had his guys follow her when I was FTA?"

"I didn't know Stolle had her followed."

"Jeez. You really need to get a better information network. What do YOU know about Stephanie? You, obviously, want to hire her for some reason."

"Well, after looking over the information I was given, it looks like I have information from the newspaper and bounty hunter magazine."

"I don't know how you people protect the United States if that's all the information you have on her. I guess it no longer surprises me that things like 9-11 can happen."

"RIC" John exclaims, "You know that wasn't our fault."

Click.

"Damn him." John yells, startling his secretary in the outer office.

His secretary presses the button that calls his office, "Did you need something, John?"

"What? No, no I'm fine. Just a little upset at a call I received."

"Ok, well let me know if you need anything."

John takes a deep breath trying to calm himself. After about 2 minutes, he finally believes himself calm enough and calls Ric back.

"Yo."

"Why did you hang up?"

"I didn't see any point to continuing the conversation and your last comment didn't deserve a response."

"Grrr." Click. _Well, at least I hung up on him, this time._

At the other end of the line, Ric smiles when he hears the dial tone.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ranger's Bargain Chapter 12**

**At Steph's Apartment**

The phone rings. Steph jerks awake, knocking her alarm clock off the nightstand. When that doesn't stop the ringing she curses and stumbles out of bed looking for the source of the noise. She finally finds the phone hidden in between her couch cushions. _Now how did it get there?_ "Hello."

"Stephanie Plum?" A young female asks questioningly.

"Speaking."

"It'll just be a minute while I get the president on the phone."

"The president? Of the United States?"

"The one and only." I deeper male voice says.

"Oh...Ummm... Hello, Mr. President. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" _Ok. It's just the president. Stay calm. It's okay. No, it's not. It's the president. Why would the president be calling me? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh._

"Have you talked with the FBI, yet?"

"No, should I have?"

"I thought they were going to talk with you last night."

"They were? I didn't know that. I was supposed to meet with someone last night, though."

"What happened?"

"He wasn't there when I arrived, but he did leave me his phone number. I was supposed to call him."

"Why haven't you?"

"I just woke up. I haven't really started my day, yet."

"You're just now getting up? It's 1pm where you are."

"Yeah well, somebody I know decided to wake me up at 6am this morning and it took me a while to go back to sleep. I figured if it was really important they'd call me."

"I guess you could say they have. I'd really hoped that you would have already talked with the FBI before I talked with you."

"Why?"

"They were going to offer you a position as an FBI agent."

"Oooh. Really?" Stephanie asks excitedly.

"Yes. Your first assignment was actually to be doing something for me, which I had hoped to talk to you about, but it would really be best for you to talk to the FBI guy first. Then you can call me. Ask Ricardo Manoso for my number. He should have it on file."

"Ric... You mean Ranger? Why does he have your number? Does he work for you to?"

"That's privileged information. I hope to hear from you soon and we'll talk more then." Click.

_Grrr. He does it, too._ Realizing she's not even dressed, yet and not sure how much time they'll give her to get ready once everything gets sorted out Stephanie quickly grabs some clothes and jumps in the shower. She manages to get her shower and her hair done in about 40 minutes. Then she turns and looks at herself in the full-length mirror hanging on the door. _Aaaaah. My clothes don't match._ Hurrying into her room, she starts pulling outfits out of her closet. Finally, she finds a cute skirt and t-shirt that goes with it.

Feeling slightly more prepared, in case she needs to rush off, Stephanie pulls out the phone number that was left at the playground.

"John McKayle."

"Stephanie Plum calling as commanded, sir."

"Alright, who told you to do that?"

"No one, sir."

"Then why did you? You don't even know who I am."

"That's where you're wrong. I know you are put of the FBI."

"And how do you know that? Did Ranger or someone in his company tell you?"

"No, the president told me."

"When did you talk to the president?"

"About an hour ago."

"And what did he have to say?"

"Just that you had a job to offer me and that my first assignment would be with him. He wanted me to talk with you before he gave me any more information on the assignment, though."

"Really?" _I should have known he would call when he didn't hear back from me. He's always been an impatient person wanting something done and wanting it done now._

"Yes, sir."

"Stop, that. You don't need to call me, sir. In fact, why don't you call me John? After your assignment with the president you'll probably end up doing a lot of work for me."

"Ok, John, so what exactly are you offering me."

"Well, I'm the director of the FBI and as such I would like to offer you a position as an FBI agent, only you wouldn't be a normal agent. You'd have to get training before you could do that, but until you have that training there are a couple of cases where we need a woman of your talents and training doesn't matter as much for these particular cases."

"What talents do I have that you could possibly use?"

"Your intuition and ability to solve cases before anyone else puts the pieces together."

"Oh."

"So will you do it?"

"Let me talk it over with some friends first, but I probably will."

"Ok. Tell Ranger hi for me."

"What? How did you? I didn't say I would be talking with Ranger."

"No, but he called me earlier today and it sounded like you two were good friends, so I made an assumption."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I'll let him know."

"Good."

"Is there anything else?"

"No."

"Ok. Umm. Bye."

"Bye." Click.

_He actually knows how to say goodbye on the phone. Amazing._


End file.
